Whom
I Should Be in An Online Writing Class?
Believe
it or not, this is my first time to take an online class in my life. In my
country, our teachers don’t like online teaching, and they believe students
might lose themselves in an online class because they are not sure about what
they should do. However, after I came to MSU, I found that there are many
online classes and I heard lots of students enjoyed a lot in the online class.
So, after hesitating for a long time, I decided to take ENG 704 as my first
online class. What makes me more excited about is that I will learn how to
teach writing online through this class. The first question that occurs in my
mind is whom I should be in an online writing class if I am a teacher, and I
have thought about various answers toward this question: A instructor as in f2f
class? A generative guide? Or… The readings in the first module give me some
inspiration, and I seem to find the answer. I should be an audience for my
students in an online writing class, who can act as an instructor, a guide and
a peer.
In the article “The NCTE Guideline: NCTE
Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing”, we are told that writing is a process
rather than a product. As a teacher, when we see the finished pieces of
writing, it is not just about the texts themselves. It involves the author’s
thinking, writing skills and so on. As a teacher, we should listen to students’
ideas about what they have in mind. If they don’t know what they should write,
we need to help them do the brainstorming. Moreover, some students who have
great ideas but don’t know how to express them might be lack of writing skills,
so we need to do the writing skill drills to them. We are the audience for them
who will provide the professional writing instructions at their early stage of
writing.
As
a teacher, we should not be an outsider once students begin their writing.
After reading chapter one of “Teaching Writing Online: How and Why”, I am
impressed by an argument, “don’t be an unapproachable sage”. If we are standing in an unapproachable place,
students might get disappointed and feel there is nothing left to say. To be
approachable for students, we should reply to students as soon as we can via
email, skype. Also, it is a good choice to update the message board regularly
so that students will know what they need to do step by step. Checking the
discussion board daily might be a good choice to know what students are
thinking about in the process. We are the audience for students who can guide
them when they feel tired or frustrated and help them get over the difficulties
in the stage.
When
students are at the stage of revising their writings, we are the audience who
should offer more interactions for them. Peer-review is important to improve
students’ draft and help them clarify their ideas and words. We can create
online workshop for students, where they can discuss with their classmates
freely on the writings. At the same time, we are standing in the virtual midst
if the students, who behave as the peer rather than the teacher.
Although
I am not sure whether being an audience is the best way for teaching writing
online, I know there is still a long way to figure out the best role online
writing teachers should play. What I am sure now is being such kind of an
audience can benefit both students and teachers. As a teacher, we should not be
scared by those so-called restrictions, just jump in, and shape our roles in
the process.
Works
Cited:
Warnock,
Scott. Teaching Writing Online: How and
Why. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, 2009. 1-9. Print.
The
Writing Study Group of the NCTE Executive Committee. "The NCTE Guideline:
NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing." National Council of Teachers
of English. 14 Oct 2014. Web. Jan 2015.
